Three states, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Telangana, have rebuffed a proposal, approved by the Centre’s Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), to test a new kind of transgenic cotton seed.
The seed in question was developed by Hyderabad-based Bioseed Research India and contains a gene, cry2Ai, that purportedly makes cotton resistant to pink bollworm, a major pest. The seed has passed preliminary, confined trials and was recommended by the GEAC to be tested in farmer’s fields at Janwada, Telangana; Jalna, Maharashtra; Akola, Maharashtra; Junagadh, Gujarat; and Barwala-Hisar, Haryana.
Under the current rules, transgenic seeds must be tested in open fields before they can hope to be cleared by the GEAC for commercial development. Agriculture being a State subject means that, in most cases, companies interested in testing their seeds need approvals from the States for conducting such tests. Of the four States that Bioseed applied to, only Haryana gave permission for such tests.
